Pieces of Truth

Only a few weeks had gone by since the guys left for their tour, but I was so busy with school, work and putting the final touches on the record to start ridiculously missing them. Billie and I had spoken on the phone a few times and I didn't tell him about what was keeping me so occupied; I wanted it to be a surprise.

Ross, Stella and I set up a gig at Gilman for the day the boys got back, and all we have to do is pick a name for our band.

"We have to think of something! These can't get pressed without a name," I said, referring to the covers for the tape and CD cases.

Brainstorming band names turned out to be a lot harder than I thought; we had come up with a ton, but none seemed to fit.

"How about something like 'Long Summer Nights'," Ross suggested.

"Isn't that an oxymoron though?" Stella asked, "Summer has long days and short nights..."

"I think that's the point," I laughed, "I like it."

As it came closer to October 28th, the day Billie, Tre, and Mike came home, the more and more we were doing for our band.

We pressed and stocked our music at Amoeba and put up posters promoting our upcoming show around the East Bay. For my business classes, I wrote about how I had begun my venture into the music industry with Long Summer Nights.

Although Stella, Ross and I knew our band was purely for the hell of it and that we wouldn't be making it big, we were ecstatic and proud of what we had created.

Our album, titled, "Meet Me on the Ave" covered love, loss and just about anything in between.

While we were chilling out after a practice session, the phone rang.

"Hey Stell, will you grab that?" I called to her, seeing as I was nowhere near the telephone.

The phone stopped ringing, so I assumed she picked it up.

"It's Billie," she told me, so I went and picked it up in the kitchen.

"Hey Beej! What's happening?" I asked in a cheery tone.

"Just hanging before a gig. What's got you so chipper?"

"Counting down the days till you're home is all," I told him, watching Ross and Stella making faces at me.
Unable to keep control, I let out a small laugh, interrupting Billie's response.

"Am I keeping you from something?" he asked suddenly.

"No.. no. I'm sorry! I have a couple of friends from work over and they're being douchebags," I answered, shooting them a glare.

"Ohh! Well I'm glad you're having fun!"

"Me too. It's not the same without you though."

"I'm only gone for three more days," he laughed.

Stella and Ross watched TV in the living room as Billie and I continued to talk. It had been a while since we had last gotten the chance.

Nearly half an hour went by, and I heard Tre in the background on Billie's end, badgering him to get off the phone.

"Ok, ok! Jesus Christ. Guess I gotta go," Billie heaved a sigh.

"Alright! Have a good show tonight. I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks. Love you!"

"I love you too, bye," I told him, hanging up the phone and joining my friends on the couch.

The day of our gig, we went through our set, which was basically about forty-five minutes long if they liked us.. We felt pretty good about it, but I was nervous. I had to sing most of the songs and play guitar without fucking up.

Before we left for Gilman, I wrote Billie a note saying, 'Beej- Gone to 924 for a show. Meet me there as soon as you get home! XOXO, Gray'

I left it on the bed in his room, knowing it would be the first place he would go.

[Billie Joe]

The East Coast mini tour had been a blast, filled with constant gigs and nonstop partying. But no matter how much I loved going out and being wild, it made me appreciate the quiet nights in I got to share with Grace every once in a while.

Even though I was excited and more than ready to be home, I was curious to see if anything had changed while I was away.

We dropped Tre and Mike off, and finally I was home.

Grace's car wasn't in the driveway, which was weird. I figured she would have been waiting for me to come home... Guess not.

I lugged in all my equipment and clothes, immediately heading up to my room to find a note telling me to go to Gilman.

Grace knew I wasn't exactly welcome there after the falling out we had with the place.. But if it was for a show worth seeing, I'd be there.

Walking into the familiar venue brought back a whole lot of good and bad memories. Outside, I had seen posters for some band I had never heard of called Long Summer somethings, and apparently they were who I was supposed to be seeing.

Unable to spot Grace right as I entered, I made my way through the crowd, ending up somewhere near the front of the "stage."

The lights hit the stage as the band took their places, and my mouth dropped as Grace approached the microphone with her ancient Fender Strat slung over her shoulder.

"I'm Grace, and we're Long Summer Nights," she introduced quickly then dove into the first song.

All I could do was gape in awe at how this girl basically commanded the entire place, keeping all eyes on her at every second of the set. Her antics and stage presence amused me; she joked with the crowd and did an awesome stage dive, returning to the stage moments later, totally unphased.

I could definitely learn a thing or two from her.

Before I knew it, their set was over.

"Thank you, goodnight," Grace saluted, taking a bow and throwing her pic into the mass of people, leaving the stage with the two other members of this band.

I went out behind Gilman and found Grace instantly.

"Billie Joe! I'm so glad you made it," she grinned, giving me the biggest hug, "I knew I saw you in the crowd."

"I don't even know what to say, you know? You didn't tell me you started a band!"

"It was a surprise. We recorded a CD and everything," she told me enthusiastically, proud of her work.

"Yeah, who's this we?" I asked, looking around.

"Oh! Guys, come here," she called out to her friends, who walked over to us.

"Woah," the girl with the bright blond bob said, her light blue eyes scanning me over.

The tall, red headed guy reached out and shook my hand.

"I'm Ross. This is Stella. It's good to finally meet you."

"Uh.. Yeah," I nodded.

"We're heading back in. See you later," Stella told us, then she and Ross left.

"Sorry, they're a little star struck. They freaked out the first time I brought them to your house co we could record," Grace giggled, wrapping her arms around me.

"I can't wait to hear your album," I told her.

"Meet up at your place? I gotta get all my stuff," she answered and I nodded, letting her go back inside.

At home, Grace put on the CD and sat beside me on the couch in the basement, a nervous look on her face the whole time we listened.

She was hesitant to hear my reaction after the final song ended, and I looked for something to say. While I had been listening, I looked over the simple insert with acknowledgments and thank yous. Ross and Stella had something written, but I only read Grace's.

"This is for Billie Joe Armstrong. Without him, this wouldn't have been possible. This is because 'I love you's not enough."

"So? What do you think?" Grace asked, drawing my attention away from the case.

"It sounds like you.. Even though I can tell you didn't write all the songs, the whole thing is you. It's methodical and has a story behind it," I told her, "It's really cool."

A smile spread over her lips and she tackled me with hugs and kisses.

"You have no idea how much I missed you," she told me as we laid together on the couch. We couldn't be bothered to get up.

"I'm pretty sure I missed you more," I grinned, knowing it was cheesy, but true.

"You had fun though, right?"

"Well yeah! It's not the same," I said, letting my fingers run through her hair.

"Hey, let's go upstairs," Grace suggested.

"I'm pretty comfy right here.." I muttered, not really wanting to move.

"I think you'd really like it if we were up in your bedroom," she winked, getting up and taking my hand.

"Oh alright, if you insist!" I acted coy, following her in anticipation.

As soon as I walked into my room I had tugged my shirt off, watching Grace turn around to face me.

"What the fuck is that?!" she shrieked, making me jump.

"What the fuck is what?" I asked, having no idea what was going on.

"That," she said, jabbing my chest with her finger.

"Ow. Huh?"

"Who is Zeke and why is it tattooed on your chest?" Grace asked again.

"I don't know! I was probably high or something!"

"Well I hope it was as fun as sleeping on the couch is gonna be," she said, grabbing my pillow and hurling it at me.

"Now go," she ordered.